Lebanese Politicians Say 'Never Again' on Anniversary of Civil War
Lebanese politicians warned on Saturday against the return to war on the 40th anniversary of the start of Lebanon's civil war that killed more than 150,000 people.
“We did not end our civil war to precipitate our country into the furnace of Arab wars,” said al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri via twitter.
“We cannot protect Lebanon if we do not stop surrounding fires from reaching it, or worse, if we keep throwing ourselves into their flames!” he said.
“40th anniversary of the start of Lebanon's civil war: Never again,” he tweeted.
The civil war lasted 15 bloody years from 1975 to 1990. It claimed the lives of more than 150,000 people and left some 17,000 missing, according to official figures.
The conflict primarily pitted Christian groups against Palestinian factions backed by leftist and Muslim parties, with significant regional and international intervention.
Lebanon has veered toward the edge of communal conflict several times since then.
In 1991, Lebanon issued a broad amnesty that benefited the country's warlords, allowing many of them to become political leaders and members of parliament. But none of them has publicly apologized.
Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat also said via twitter that he was among the officials who were “swept away by feuds and hatred.”
“I prefer to remain silent,” he told his followers. “My point of view will not be fair or objective.”
But he stressed that he advised his son Taymour and all Lebanese youth to avoid violence and ignorance.
Jumblat said on several occasions that he would hand over his parliamentary son to his son after Speaker Nabih Berri promised him to hold by-elections in May because the Druze leader will submit his resignation from parliament.
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